


Let This Moment Be the First Chapter

by ephemeralstark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, BAMF Peter Parker, Gen, Identity Reveal, Intern Peter Parker, Interns & Internships, Tony goes to Midtown, bc he's a smart cookie, just to tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 06:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23846815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephemeralstark/pseuds/ephemeralstark
Summary: Peter Parker: intern, Spider-Man, has never met Tony Stark in his life.Tony Stark: has to do a speech at Midtown, knocks a bully down a peg or two, almost gets shot but is saved by...his intern?
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 35
Kudos: 1618
Collections: Actual Intern Peter Parker, The Friendly Neighborhood Exchange, ellie marvel fics - read





	Let This Moment Be the First Chapter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wherermysocks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherermysocks/gifts).



> This is a friendly-neighbourhood-exchange fic for @wherermysocks! This isn't exactly what you wanted and I'm so sorry about that :( I kinda combined two prompts (the intern one and the tony is at midtown one) so i hope this is kinda enjoyable but ahhh

“This is such a waste of time,” Tony grumbled as he shrugged on his suit jacket, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see if Pepper was paying any attention to his dramatics – she wasn’t. “This is a school, and it’s going to be full of greasy, sweaty children who care about nothing more than who’s dating who and where they stand in the popularity ranks.”

“You were a kid once,” Pepper said, “were you like that?”

“Yes!” Tony said sounding exasperated, “Pep, I was exactly like that, I mean I was a genius of course, but I was still a stinky, greasy teen.”

“You need more interns and college students are great, but your image would be much better if you were showing an interest in the youth of America.” Pepper said, still not glancing up from her phone as she arranged Tony’s security detail for the day. “An internship with you could help these kids nail a scholarship or give them an edge over their competitors, and we need their knowledge to get an edge on our competitors.”

“Yeah, obviously, but _Midtown?_ ” Tony asked.

Pepper sighed and finally graced him with a stare of utter disbelief, “Tony, you have an intern who goes to school there.”

“I do?”

“Yes. Peter Parker, he’s fifteen, straight A student, has an interest in his extra-curriculars and he’s on his decathlon team.” Pepper said.

“How do you know all of that?” Tony asked.

“Because we moved him to R&D.” Pepper said. “Because he’s one of the best interns you’ve ever had and because he’s the kid you should want to keep, you need a brain like his – treat him well and he’ll take this company far.”

“You’re already organising my next in line?” Tony asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “Shouldn’t that be our kid?”

“We don’t have a kid.”

“Not yet.”

“Peter Parker.” Pepper repeated, placing a folder in Tony’s hands and ignoring his muttered ‘I don’t like to be handed things’.

Tony continued to grumble as Happy appeared and said the car was ready. He continued to grumble as they drove to the stupid school, and he even grumbled as he was surrounded by a rather impressive security team.

In fact, he didn’t stop until he was standing in the principal’s office. He paced back and forth as he listened to Principal Morita talk about how proud they were to have him there speaking to their students. It was the usual bootlicking, annoying speech that everyone gave – hoping to stroke his ego and get their school put up on a higher pedestal than all of the others, so Tony zoned out, that was until-

“I don’t mean to alarm you, but there is a certain student here,” Principal Morita said carefully, as though he was unsure how to word things, “he’s been through a lot, he was orphaned, his uncle died a few months ago, so it’s normal that he would act out a little-”

“Is he a threat?” Happy interrupted, hand resting casually on top of his suit jacket, but Tony knew full well what sort of weaponry lay underneath. He wanted to snap at Happy not to pull a weapon out in a goddamn _school_ but thankfully he was beaten to it.

“No.” Principal Morita said quickly, “no, no, no, no threats here. It’s just he’s been making up some lies, he was caught talking about an internship with his friends – an internship with you that is.”

“Oh,” Tony muttered, rolling his eyes, before remembering that Pepper had mentioned they had an intern who went to school here, he hoped that no one was giving his intern any stick, “what’s the kid’s name?”

“Sorry?” Principal Morita asked, Tony wondered whether it was _just_ the other school kids who were giving that kid a hard time, he really hoped that the teachers weren’t joining in too – especially if the story about his uncle only having passed away a few months ago was true.

“The kid who claims to be my intern, what’s his name?”

“Peter.”

“Oh Parker.” Tony said. “Yeah, that kid works for my company, in fact I was considering turning his internship into a paid one – he’s a great kid.”

Principal Morita seemed to turn a strange grey colour. 

“You wouldn’t have given him any, I don’t know, detentions, would you?” Tony asked, eyes narrowing, “nothing that would go on his permanent record?”

“I’ll remove them instantly.” Principal Morita said, and Tony was satisfied to see a guilty look appear on the man’s face.

He wanted to plough on and make the man feel as shit as that kid had probably felt for being punished for a completely unfair reason, but a small throat clear from Happy convinced him to move on. He knew the security detail was anxious about the length of time he would be in the school and he wasn’t supposed to be dragging it out any further. He didn’t want to create more of a risk than there already was.

“Shall we then?” Tony asked.

Principal Morita seemed to remember the reason for Tony Stark being in his school, and he instantly jumped to his feet, bumping into his desk and knocking over his pen pot, “yes, yes, yes,” he said as he gathered them back up and made his way to the door, giving Happy a wide berth.

“The students will already be in the hall now, and I believe some of your bodyguards have taken the liberty to install temporary metal detectors and bag search everyone… thoroughly.” Principal Morita said.

“Standard practise.” Happy grunted.

“Yes, yes, of course, I quite understand.” The man said even though it was clear from the small frown on his face that he most definitely didn’t understand why they had done that.

How could he?

It wasn’t like there were people out for his blood. Well, maybe the odd parent or two, Tony paused thinking about the ruthless parents he’d come across in his time as they tried to convince him that their little cherub was the most important child in the world and should get a Stark Internship because of their family’s status.

Maybe Tony should lend the man his own security detail.

They walked into the hall and Tony was met with silence, he wasn't sure that he'd ever seen a hall full of students be so quiet, it was rather unnerving - this was all Pepper's fault, she could have done the presentation and offered up the temptation of an internship to the students, she was so much better at public speaking than he was and that was purely because he knew he would drop an 'f' bomb somewhere. He was incapable of not. 

Thankfully the silence didn't last long, and Tony heard the whispers start to break out. 

_Tony Stark!_

_Iron Man!_

_Did you hear what The Bugle said about him last month..._

_My dad said that he once met Iron Man at…_

_I wish I was his kid, imagine what a life that would be…_

_Ha, Penis, I bet you're going to be so embarrassed when he exposes you for the fraud you are! Or rather, when he doesn't acknowledge you at all, because why would he? He has no idea who you are._

Well, that kid sounded like a delight, maybe Tony would prove him wrong - he was obviously talking about the intern that he actually didn't know, but would happily pretend to if it would improve the kid's chances at a peaceful school life. Although, maybe his good intentions would go wrong as the other kids may pretend to be his friend to get closer to Stark Industries, Tony had dealt with that a few times in his life. 

"Alright, alright," Principal Morita said, standing slightly too close to the microphone, a squeal rang out through the hall and the students covered their ears with exclamations of annoyance, "settle down now, if you want to hear what Mr. Stark has to say then you all need to quieten down."

Tony watched as an excited hush fell upon the hall, some of the students looking as though they were minutes away from jumping out of their seats and launching themselves at him. For what reason though, he was unsure. 

"Now, I know this week has been long and difficult," Principal Morita said, "between the tests and presentations you've all been through, you've all done remarkably well, but now we will finish off our career week with a speech from Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries. Over to you, Mr. Stark."

Principal Morita stepped back, leaving Tony to wonder what the hell sort of tests a school could be giving to its students during a career week - back in his day they had been the perfect time for a skive, and yet all of the students he was looking at had bags under their eyes and tired shadows on their faces. School had definitely changed from his time. 

"Thank you Principal," Tony said politely, Pepper would be proud of him, "now, I know that you've probably had some great speeches this week, they have most likely inspired and motivated you all to look into the careers that are available to you and maybe some of you have already decided what path you would like to pursue - my speech will be nothing like those."

Tony paused while a few students laughed. 

"I'm not known for being a perfect person, I've messed up in the past, I've had my fair share of scandals, but what no paper can say about me is that I don't know how to run a business - because I do," Tony said confidently, "I haven't created a worldwide brand out of my name for no reason - Stark Industries has changed the way we look at energy, we've changed the face of clean energy and we've adjusted all of our practices in the workplace to leave as little a carbon footprint as possible.

"You may be thinking, 'why? What's the point in that?' well, I'll tell you what the point is - we are trying to improve the environment and improve the way we view the world."

He noticed a few confused glances - they were probably wondering why Tony Stark was lecturing them on clean energy, after all he hadn't managed to fully get rid of the image of being a weapons producer yet, he was still viewed as that person even though he'd made a pretty big deal about removing himself from the market. 

"I know, I know, what's the point of all of this?" Tony asked. "Why should you guys care what Stark Industries is doing to fix the world? Well, we've started employing interns to help us, we were employing college age students, but now we're reaching out to school kids. We want to pick your brains and figure out what you’re doing in your day to day life and figure out how we can use our technology to improve efficiency and reduce negative impacts on the environment." 

A hand popped up.

"Yes?" 

"So, you don't already have any school kids as interns?" A kid asked, and Tony recognised that voice as the one that had been calling the other kid 'Penis' earlier – likely the main bully of the kid that was his intern. 

"Well, we have one that goes to this school," Tony said casually, grinning internally when the kid who had asked the question paled, "he's the reason I'm doing this speech here, in fact, because he's doing such a great job at his internship that me and my fiancé - Pepper - figured that we may as well try and get some more interns with a similar mentality as what he has, and where better than the place where he was taught, where his friends are."

Tony watched as the kid gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish - before he drove the final blow home. 

"In fact, he doesn't know this yet, but he's going to have a final say on who we take on as new interns." Tony said. "We will do the shortlisting and then once we're down to five potential candidates we'll ask him who should get the job."

"B-but-" the kid stammered.

"Yes?" Tony asked. 

"What if he's biased and chooses a friend?" 

"Well if that friend has made it to the final five then they probably deserve the position." Tony said with a shrug. "So long as you're not bothering him, I don't think you should need to worry."

Tony realised that he had spent the whole time talking about the kid without even knowing which one he was, that and he'd made plans for the kid's future at the internship without actually making sure that he was alright with them. 

"Anyway, now that we've addressed all of that; Peter Parker - can you come forward please?" Tony asked. 

He scanned the students from behind his sunglasses, pleased that they would stop the rest of the hall from seeing that he had no idea who he was actually looking for. There was a small commotion somewhere behind the kid who had asked the question - the bratty bully - and a short kid with curly hair was pushed up to his feet by an unimpressed looking girl. 

The kid was wearing a dorky T-Shirt with a science pun on it, he looked as though he was about to faint or run away and Tony wasn't sure which option would be the least embarrassing for them both. 

"C'mon up here Pete." Tony said. 

Peter apprehensively made his way up to Tony and stood a few metres away, casting side glances at the older man every now and then before returning his gaze to the floor. 

"This is Peter," Tony said, "I'm sure you know him, probably better than I do, although I doubt you guys have had to deal with him stealing the last slice of pepperoni pizza and leaving you with the Hawaiian like a heathen." 

Peter frowned as though he was wondering himself if that was something that had actually happened, or maybe he was offended at the insinuation that he didn't like pineapple on pizza - Tony wasn't sure and he wasn't convinced that he would want to know the reasoning behind it. 

Pepper would have been better off doing this presentation - she wouldn't have hijacked it to prove a point to a stupid school bully. Why couldn't Tony just follow simple instructions? Give a speech, grab an iced coffee, go home. It would have been so much easier. 

It turned out that Tony's decision to prove a point to a bully would save his life as four things happened in rapid succession. 

Peter's head snapped up and he stared at Tony with a look of horror that sent fear spiralling through Tony's stomach. 

A window shattered above them. 

Tony was shoved to the ground by a force that he would have likened to that of being hit by a car. 

A bullet imbedded itself into the wall just behind where Tony's head had been. 

It was impossible. Peter had moved faster than the bullet, he had known where it had been intending to hit, but there had been no laser, no inclination that there was a gun on him, nothing - so how had Peter known? He couldn't have been behind the plot to kill him as he wouldn't have bothered to push him out of the way. Not only had he saved Tony, but he'd done it with such a strength that it made him suspicious. 

"Kid?" Tony asked, looking at the child who was staring wide eyed at the hole in the wall. "Are you alright?" 

"I- uh- yeah?" The kid muttered, making Tony keenly aware that he was not ok in the slightest. 

Tony tried to push himself up but he found that Peter's hand was stuck to his suck jacket...but... his hand wasn't closed around the fabric - it was open, his palm was sticking as though there was glue or something on it, but that was impossible. People couldn't just stick to things, not unless they were- oh. 

He was sticky. He had sensed the bullet coming. He moved faster than humanly possible. He was stronger than an average person. 

The kid was Spider-Man. 

"Come on kid, unstick yourself, people will notice." Tony murmured quietly, tugging on his suit jacket slightly to try and catch the kid’s attention again.

"I-" Peter's gaze shifted from the hole in the wall to his own hand and he stared at it as though it had betrayed him. He pulled it back to his own chest as though it had never been stuck in the first place. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Tony said, "I don't think anyone else noticed." 

"Noticed what?" The kid said, as though he had any chance of denying the obvious. 

"Tony!" Happy was there in an instant and they were surrounded by his security detail - it was like a wall between them and the outside world. "Are you alright? Did they get you anywhere?" 

"No, the kid was in the right place at the right time apparently." Tony said. 

"Should we be suspicious?" Happy asked, obviously wondering if it was more than a coincidence that Peter was there when he was needed.

"No." Tony said surely, feeling a headache forming behind his eyes from the stress of the near-death experience and the screaming of the students in the hall.

“This was meant to be cool.” Peter mumbled, a distinct whine in his voice, Tony was sure that he wasn’t meant to hear it.

“Happy, get us out of here.” Tony said. “The kid is coming back with us.”

And that was how Tony found himself standing in the middle of his workshop with a defensive kid sat on one of the workbenches both of them sipping sugary mugs of cocoa – to help with the shock of the day - as they watched a video of Spider-Man swinging in front of a bus and stopping it with his hands. 

"That's you." Tony stated. 

"No, it's not." Peter lied. 

"Yes. It is." 

"If you already know then why are you doing this?" Peter asked cocking his head in a mix of confusion and irritation. 

"You saved my life." Tony said. 

"So you're going to what? Expose my identity in thanks?" 

"Are you always so sarcastic?" Tony wondered. 

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, narrowing his eyes. 

"For the last four months I've been keeping tabs on the Spider-Man, trying to figure out his motives, see if he's a threat - the usual shebang, you know?" Tony asked, Peter didn't answer but that had been expected. "And then I learn that it’s you, you're the Spider-Kid, why do you do it?"

"Do I need to have a reason?" Peter asked. 

"Everyone has a reason for doing things, sometimes we don't know our reasons, but we always have them." Tony said. 

"So maybe I don't know why I do it." 

"That's a lie," Tony said instantly, "come on kid, cut the bullshit, why do you do it?"

"Why did you point me out in the assembly today even though you’ve never met me before and you had no idea who I was before today?"

"I heard that kid calling you... names earlier and your principal had warned me that there was a kid that was lying about working for me." Tony admitted. 

Peter snorted, "figures he wouldn't believe me either, but what you're saying is that you did it because you felt like sticking up for the little guy?"

"That's why your Spider-Kid isn't it?" Tony asked, knowing that he was right. "You know that most heroes are fighting the bigger threats to the world as we know it, and no one is stopping the petty crimes that are happening close to home."

"I wouldn't call assault a petty crime." Peter said. 

"Fair, that was poor word choice." Tony conceded. 

"But, yeah," Peter said with a sigh, "I'm looking out for the little guy."

"What motivates you to do that?" Tony asked.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked with a small frown.

"I mean what makes you put on that onesie and jump around Queens saving people and bicycles?" Tony asked, feeling bad for phrasing it like that when Peter flushed bright red and looked away. 

"It's not a onesie." He muttered. 

"It isn't?" 

"I did my best to modify some old pyjamas and a hoodie," Peter admitted, "I wasn't all that great at sewing so it was the best that I could do."

"I mean all things considered, it's not the worst." Tony said graciously. "But come on, what motivates you?"

"You're not going to let this go are you?" Peter asked. 

"Come on Kiddo, I'm Tony Stark, I don't let anything go." Tony said with an eye roll. 

"Fine," Peter said with a weary sigh that almost made Tony wish he could turn back time and forget to ask the question. Almost. He was also very curious, "I guess I figured that when you can do the things that I can, when you have the ability to save people, and you don't, aren't you partially responsible?" 

"You think you have a duty to protect the people in your neighbourhood?" 

"I know I do." Peter corrected him. 

"You aren't responsible for the wrongdoings of others." Tony said, hoping that the kid already knew that. 

"Aren't I?" Peter wondered. "If I see someone being mugged, and I don't stop to help them doesn't that make me guilty?"

"I can see what you're saying," Tony admitted, "but where does that responsibility end? How much pressure are you going to put on yourself before you crack?" 

"It's not that bad, I only patrol in Queens, and I do have a life outside of Spider-Man." Peter admitted. 

"Good, because you're young," Tony said, "you can't have the weight of the world on your shoulders." 

The kid glanced away, and Tony wondered if the kid already did. Hadn’t the principal said he’d recently lost his uncle? How and when exactly had that happened?

"Right," Tony continued after sensing that he wouldn't get much more out of Peter on that subject, "now, I don't think anyone noticed your sticky situation-"

"Don't call it that!" Peter insisted, flushing. 

"-but should anyone bring it up I've taken the liberty to put my number in your phone," Tony said, holding out the device.

"When did you even take this?" Peter wondered. 

"So if anyone mentions it, call me," Tony said, ignoring Peter's question, "I have a stack of NDAs already prepared and I can be there in ten minutes with the Iron Man suit."

"You'd do that for me?" Peter asked with wide eyes. 

"Kid, you saved my life," Tony said, "I'm upgrading you to my personal intern and your newest project is to help me design a new Spider-Man suit for you. If I have to fly across the city to protect my intern's identity, then I'll do it in a heartbeat." 

"You mean it?" Peter asked, Tony was almost afraid to say yes because he was worried the kid might burst into tears. 

"Of course I do." 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Peter rambled as he launched himself at Tony and hugged him tightly for a brief second before backing off with wide eyes as he remembered who it was he was talking to, "ah sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I'm just so grateful." 

"Don't stress," Tony said, waving off the apologies, "besides, just wait until Pepper bursts in here."

"Pepper Potts?" Peter asked. 

"Yeah, she can’t wait to thank you for saving my life today." Tony said with a grin. "Don't worry, I didn't tell her your secret but don't expect her not to figure it out, she's a formidable woman with a brain to rival mine." 

"She sounds great." Peter said. 

"I'll remind you that you said that in a few months’ time when she's chasing you off the ceiling with a broom." 

"Mr. Stark, I would never crawl on the ceiling," Peter said with a look of shock, but Tony could have sworn that he heard a whispered, "at least not when you'd see me."

And so, the unknown intern turned into the kid who risked his identity to save Tony's life and in turn would eventually become his protégé, not that he knew that fact yet - but as they settled down to start sketching out new blueprints for a Spider-Man suit, Tony had a feeling that he could get used to having someone to teach, someone who looked up to him, someone he felt protective over. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked, please leave a comment or kudos and come find me on tumblr @[ephemeralstark](https://ephemeralstark.tumblr.com/) and goodnight friends its 1am and i tried


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